Every so often, you need a good dose of encouragement when it
comes to handling sales objections. If you're a regular reader
of my column, you know I believe that the most meaningful
encouragement comes from those in the trenches--the walking
wounded who are willing to share their war stories.

This month's war heroes are three entrepreneurial moms I met
while being interviewed on a talk show. Owners of EKA Productions
LLC, Jill Luedtke, 42, Kim Anton, 39, and Tracey Hornbuckle, 34,
are producers of award-winning children's videos in San Diego.
Studying their strategies for getting their products into stores is
almost like taking a graduate course in handling objections.

Danielle Kennedy presents sales and marketing seminars and
keynote addresses worldwide and is the author of seven sales books
as well as audio and video sales training programs. Check local
bookstores for her book, Seven Figure Selling (Berkley
Press). Write to her in care of Entrepreneur, 2392 Morse
Ave., Irvine, CA 92614.

I Know I Can, I Know I Can

Overcoming objections in the marketplace starts with a "we
can do it" attitude. This became Luedtke, Anton and
Hornbuckle's rallying cry as they built their business.

The three longtime friends left corporate positions about two
years ago to become stay-at-home moms. While vacationing together
in 1996, an idea for a business struck them. Their kids were
playing on a farm with a calf named Wilbur and were mimicking his
"mooing" sound. This led the kids to mimic other animals
on the farm, which seemed to be a great learning experience for
them.

Upon returning home, Luedtke, Anton and Hornbuckle researched
the market and found very few entertaining educational videos for
the diaper set. After what they'd seen on the farm, they
thought they had a great concept to fill this niche. Hence the
birth of EKA Productions LLC, which now produces high-quality
educational children's videos such as "Wilbur Teaches
Parts of the Body," "Wilbur Sings the Classics" and
the 1998 Parenting Magazine Video Magic Award winner,
"Wilbur Visits the Farm."

At first, even with high-quality products, getting their videos
into stores was anything but easy. They had to overcome one
objection after another from wary retailers. But their perseverance
paid off: Last year, the company's sales reached $110,000. And
the trio expects to see sales of about $225,000 this year.

Here are five lessons you can learn from these
objection-fighting entrepreneurs:

1. Objections come with the sales territory. They
are merely a form of buyer resistance, so get used to coping with
them on a daily basis. "We called on a major department store
four times, each time being rejected, before they agreed to carry
our videos," says Anton.

There is no way around objections before closing a sale. Remind
yourself of this inescapable fact often enough, and eventually
you'll take it for granted and cut out all the time-wasting
dramatic reactions that deplete your energy. Objections aren't
punishments--quit making yourself suffer.

2. Give up the belief that you're not tough enough
to deal with a "no." Many people assume that good
salespeople have ice water running through their veins--tough types
who are unaffected by a continuous stream of "nos"
uttered from prospects' lips. Maybe you thought this was true
when you began trying to find new customers. In reality,
salespeople may cringe at hearing those rejections, but their
ironclad will and passionate belief in their product or service
helps them persevere. Luedtke, Anton and Hornbuckle's examples
teach us how to handle objections by simply not taking
"no" for an answer from those we are destined to
serve.

3. Objections are merely problems waiting for creative
solutions. EKA's owners are the first to admit that an
irrepressibly good attitude helps, but you'd better have some
creative solutions up your sleeve to solve your customers'
problems.

The partners' creativity finally got their product on a
major department store's shelves after being rejected several
times. "Space was the big problem," says Anton. It was
the stumbling block that came up every time she called on the
store's buyer.

The store was so full of inventory, there was no space for EKA
to set up a monitor and play its videos. "I asked if we could
tag on to other displays," says Anton. "Then I noticed
they had a monitor in the children's shoe department. Could we
use it for `Wilbur'? The children's shoe department buyer
loved the idea. A cow slipper display centering around `Wilbur
Visits the Farm' was a fresh idea they were ready to
implement."

Jot down a recent objection someone threw your way. Then let
your creativity flow: Write down the first solution that comes to
your mind, then the second, and so on. You may be surprised at the
solutions you come up with.

4. Listen for the "real" objection.
Sometimes an entrepreneur takes an objection so personally, all he
or she hears is "They don't like my product." With
this attitude, you won't be able to solve your prospect's
problem because you won't hear the real objection.

Here's an example of listening objectively: When EKA
prospected a giant toy store chain, Luedtke began by calling on the
store after the completion of EKA's first video. Three months
later, she got a message from the buyer saying the store did not
plan to carry the video.

Luedtke called the woman back to ask her what she didn't
like about the video. "She admitted she had never watched
it," says Luedtke, "so I told her no one who had actually
seen the video had ever turned us down."

Intrigued, the buyer watched the video. The actual reason for
her initial rejection of EKA's product was soon revealed.
"We were too new a company with only one product, and that
turned out to be the real objection," Luedtke says. "I
guess initially the woman figured we were housewives pursuing a
hobby, but I told her what our future [plans were]. By December, we
would be able to submit a whole series to her, and she agreed to
watch them." By August 1997, the store placed a big order for
the videos.

Apply this lesson by recalling a recent objection. Are you sure
you listened for the real reason the customer rejected your product
or service? And if so, did you answer the specific objection?

5. Exposure overcomes objections. Promote
constantly. As you grow, get as much press and kudos as you can
from satisfied customers. All that exposure will overcome
objections from those hard-to-land accounts.

EKA ultimately wants Wilbur to have his own national television
show. The partners prospected a TV production company for quite a
while, but to no avail. "Their production person kept telling
us she had no time to watch our video," says Luedtke.
"But I asked her to please review it before turning it
down."

After the woman realized the video was from EKA Productions, she
remembered she'd been asked by her firm to track the company
down because of an article her supervisor read about
"Wilbur" in a respected publication. At press time, EKA
was still negotiating with TV producers about the proposed
"Wilbur" show. As EKA realized, it pays to keep
promoting--even in the face of rejection.

Fledgling entrepreneurs in particular need to remember that many
of the objections you receive early on come up because you are new
and still building an identity in the marketplace. As your
visibility increases, be sure you go back to those who initially
told you "no" so they can rethink their position based on
your growing strength in the marketplace.

Luedtke, Anton and Hornbuckle are proof that with persistence
and creativity, companies have the power to turn objections into
affection. Try the tips these enthusiastic entrepreneurs have
shared, and you could be on the path to sales success.